Ventilating gate for beehives



Sept. 25, 1923. 1,468,995

J. B. COTTAM I VENTILATING GATE FOR BEEHIVES Filed July 21. 1922 5 J Fle.4.

6 l; In I 1| 0 Tr I -20 Z lll 24 ml W 23 I 24 H A M NIH. 6 v l 7 INVENTOR Ir/6'6- L lOH/VBCOT A/W A TTYS.

Patented ept; 923.:

" HNETEEED sw ms" 7 JOHN B. ,coTT'A o iIvZtONiECZiO, csmseeme.

'To 052 whom it may jconcem." 1 Ba it known that 1, JOHN B. COTTAMt EQI itiz siontecito, i i the coui tfyef Santa Bai'bare' e and State .of GQiiZi OifilSH hQW-E invented new and; usei' il liiiprovementsin l i-il itilit lillili isa specifii ationp 7 .7 a V y i This invention. relates to epierists supplies and i xice foibeehivesl v 7 V 7 it is an object of" the present invention to pse'i'icie simple, practicable :substantial and durable term oi'iiveversible gateitei' bee-s hives, and paiticularly toprovide s gate "h when in one position, forms an efbai'riei foitpreveiiting theegress of ex rem hive 'duiing shipment anti yet 7 prev icing for ample ventilati' the hive t i the ingiess opening. notl ei' ebjectis to provide a shipping.getelitha h ay be r adily applied toy -terms ot' beehives and which' gate isadeptethto provide for. applic'etion to' beehiveswhich may very in theii wi ith QClQSjtilG front at the ga 7 1 furthercbject of the in'v-li 7 provide a beehive gate that may be eirang one of its positions so that will re provide iei -the control of" V M ixl'Gllgh the opening 01" gate'oithe beel -.-e

, therefore, to regulate the acicssto"clitfei'ent compartments or sect-ions ofthe 'bee hive; liifpr'act'ic it is found desirable; forcertain "reasons; to limit the- GllffilnCB' and tion of a beehive, and t0 accoi iiplish this-myin-Ventioh ,coi sists 01" a gate structure i115 eluding means adjustable to cover oruitl cover any sultable portion" of the beehive;

49 Another object is to provide adjustable gate structure that may be readily setso v 3" lin em'en't; V Fig 2 isave 'tical, substantially tullscaie sectional view ofthe'landing platform en. of the United "States, residing at lJlllBCl. with the geite.v

hates for Beehives, of which thelfollowing and illustre particularly to" a gate cle- 'treiice'to regulate the control so'iestoviguide'. a 'th bees into one end thereoffj c. p

aii ope top enci' over which may; be *ar the frame is provided with suitable sp egiessto eithe'i encl or to-thecenti ai pen To that end, my' present invention-Consists" 'of a--clesii1 e for effectively pieveiiti ig the c pissagefof the bees and which ivilh atthe 1 time time provide foirtheventilation of the v the ec I is covered.

and

V ILA II IGJGA E 012 BEEHIVES.

Application' file ql xui e 1322. Serial mars-76,5741;

the entrance tothe beehive aud 'showiiig' the shipping lanclVe itilat g gate'ras applied; 8 is e-peispective of aform oi idem 'caticii tag orin arker Figjis'a'pla 'n showingcontrectetltr V ments' of the gate in the inverted:position g the telescopic pert-s thei'jeotl F 1 '5 is a .i'entelei ation (it-the invested 5] gate as disposed along the beehive entranc with illeP-alis adjusted soias to provide fon A hint 01" mute sihglebee at a time,;th"e*pa1ts"i,

being arranged. to prevent robbing is a'tront elevation ofthe getewith 7c the patts 'ediusteci along the 'beehive'em my invention may beincotp'ciat' l: structures adaptable t'orvari'cus tyPeS 'OI beehives, it: is showml in theipr'esent "case,

*tlesigneflite be: applied te a beehivefof theiectangiilah box COfiStruCtiOii"Bihaving' Hume's ran l a 3 h aviiig fiat under fa'ce" applicebleit'o mill or eage -0t thejboxa lis The to c 11 washers o rlu gs Lesso that hena fClOSUT 8 5 'tcp .is applied there will be' 'emple '4 'on' between the.- top Tot t'he scifee i. the ettem' faceio't the clesurel5. 7 i The beX; 'er beehive B' oi ythis type is: 5

usualily'proyideclfwith a front Wall QB slightly spaced above, the bottom boeied' 62f so as to provide an entrance :01? opening"? of suitable height for the'ingress anti egress of bees; Y

ll heiievei' it may be necessary to; transferthe colonies of beesii jthebeehivefr'om One location to aiiother, it isiiecessafy to close V the enti a cef opening, 7 to. prevent the pesif, sage of the'hees during such trenspjo rtatiouh eeehive for suchperioelet time esthe' open preferred "foi'iii-oi such closure consists of a pez'fo rate l fora iiiinous member, such as SKSiTlQ of substantial wire gauze 10 having al'ez gth greatertha i the lengthofthe'op fully cove i ft'he -opening. "Preferably; the

strip -10 is ofsu'ch width as to p o'i e-a'f Which'iste belcchi V H:

. V eti ig sci'eeiiQ of aiiysuita'ble '80s 'COQSU LlctlOn Wh ch'may be bouncl inr im i whereby the torarninous closbe secured in position is, in the present case, longitudinall' -i extending ,2 which o Ci-form in slidahly receive a promner the beehive, V

I end on": the bridge member h a jaw. 16 likewise having to be driven into the op is pro ed a fastening p' i vite corner or pic members 12 andjl j norn'ially conb v a substantial spring 17, one end i iis'attach-ed to the jaw l i, is end her T his adjust- W closure carrying dees "for the substantial application ice to beehires which may i ary in device "turther, inchidos means i use otthe device adjust- 1119i? the ingress and opening eeh in such manner as to form a barrier or closure which in and exit the hoes to and e: rly shown in Figu 2 and 5. the

acapted to be applied in a reverse position so that the forarninous strip 10 can he pplied either'above the hive enincovering'position along the ena trance or trance. it lniown to a iarists to cause thefibes toenter the bar; or at the ct "at the center of the be quently necessary t bing hives, a d in this case it is necessary to so restrict the of the entrance opening be 9 i trequently desirable tor reasons well one end of the 7 Also it is tre- 45 e hat not more than one or ray lint; access to the hire, so that 'These several various requirements are proviled tor ate closure l on-owl one longitudinal g "oi the hridge 12 there is pryided a forwardly ex- 4 ruling horizontally Y an I guide strip othernise suitably shaped as. desired. T Yi' hen the bridqe anemia-l2 is applied as in Figs' 52nd 6 cross the tront ofthe beehive above the opening Ttne guide strip position iust above the top of and just 24) occiu es the entrance opening. Slida arranged in the guide strip is pair of slides 21 and 22 which are each of a'len th about equal to w m which may be A tn be driven into the- The two 'telewhile the ched to contiguouspon' er end or a 'a n to enter wholly V o preventhees from rob-.

one-third or more of the length ol' 'the'bridge member so that the two slides2l and 22 can be spaced apart from each other and thus cover the ends or" the entrance gate as shown in Fig. 5. vi

in this'adjustment there is pro-' ed, therelore, an entrance opening be-' tween thecontiguousends ot the SllClGSQl and 22 through which bees may be guided M into and from the central portion of the beehive. This position of the slides or ad ju'stabl'e shuttersis shown in F i1 further adjustment oi'the shutters is shown in Fig. 6 in which the shutters are set-in abut ment with each other thus covering about two-thirds otthe entrance gate 7 and leaving the other portion uncovered as shown to I the right ot Fig. 6 and thusfcausing' the bees to enterand leaves the right hand end of the entrance opening 7..

V/hen it isnecessary toreduce the ar the bee entrance 7 to prerent robbin the. hives, th I openingis reduced to'the or size by means of an auxiliary guard inenr ber, which isin the form o'fa; slide23 which i V is slidably adgustahle 1n the dependingshut-,

ters 21 and 22; these latter being provided with longitudinal flanges 24:. forming guide-L ways in which the flat body member or? the guard 23 is 'slidahly movable This adjusta ble guard may heprovided with a forwardly; extending handle port on25 to facilitate its niovcn'ient. in Fig. 5 theiguard23 is shown as shifted into suchpositioiras to torm a very constricted opening 7 through which only one-or two bees can enter'or pass at a time thus enabling the guard bees lirp'rotect the hive. r

As the apiaigy may be provided with conventional or adopted code of signals or index system, I providethegatebridge with means for holding a number tagoi' plate, one.

of which is shown in Fig. 3 as comprising a simple tag member Q'Ghavinga designating numeral or character 27. The'bottoin of the e 110 which may be readily run into the forwardtag plate 26 is provided with flanges 28 1y extending strip 20 when thebridge is ap-' plied to the beehive insuch manner as to" position the Ventilating closure 10' over the opening 7. Thus the identity of the beehive being transferred froniplao'e to place is main tained. VThis device providesflior the inter change of identification symbols according to the'code in use and eliminates a requirement of placing any identification number, as by palntlngg directly upon the -oeeh1ve box, since the box may be transferred from place to place and given a number according to its position in a "row, and..theretore, it is only necessaryto change the number tags;

or signals 26 without ,rnutilating orobliterat-I ing previous characters on the beehive box; To prevent accidental dislodgment ofthe;

symbol tags 26 that niavihe'arranged upon the bridge members, eachofthese'is provicl;

ed with a spring latch 29 at the end oi the tag holding strip 20. The latch permits the tag to be readily positioned in the member and then snaps into place to hold it from dislodgment. The guide strip 20, therefore, forms a means for supporting the identification tags and also provides a support for the adjustable slides 21 and 22.

Further embodiments, modifications and changes may be resorted to Within the spirit of the inventionas here claimed.

lVhat is claimed is:

l. A ventilatingclosure for'beehives comprising a reversible bridge structure applicable to the front ofthebeehive and provided With a foraminous part adapted to cover the beehive opening. 7

2. A ventilating closure for beehives comprising a reversible bridge structure applicable to the front or the beehive and pro vided With a foraminous part adapted to cover the beelliveopening, said structure including relatively adjustable members adapted to be clamped in position upon beehives of difierent widths.

3. A ventilating closure for beehives comprising a bridge structure applicable to the front of the beehive and provided with a itoraminous part adapted to coverthe beehive opening, said structure including relatively contractive adjustable members adapted to be clamped in position upon beehives ct'different Widths, said members being provided with penetrating means adapted to be driven into the side Walls of the hive to secure the bridge structure in place.

4. A ventilating closure for beehives comprising a bridge structure applicable to the front or" the beehive, said structure including relatively adjustable members adapted to be clamped'in position upon beehives of difierent Widths, said adjustable members being yieldably connected so as to automatically clamp in position when applied to'a beehive.

5. A gate structure for beehiv escompris guard slidably carried by one or" said mem ber's adapted to, be shifted relative to said members to reduce the size of the opening formed thereby so as to prevent robbing of the hive. i

6. A ventilating and adjustable gate for beehives comprising a bridge-like frame having slides for-covering predetermined portions of theentrance to the hive'and which. gate is reversible andhas a ventllating 010s. are for preventlng ingress and egress to and from the hive.

' 7. A closure for beehives consisting of a bridge-like structure applicable to the beehive and contiguous to the opening thereof and having means for controlling ingress and egress, and meansfor receiving and.

holding a system symbolconcerning the bee. hive. V v 1 v f V 8. A ventilating closure for beehives comprising a bridge structure applicable to the front of the beehive and provided with a foraminous part adapted to cover the bee tively adjustable members adapted to be clamped in position upon beehives of different widths, said adjustable members being yieldably connected so vasto automatically clamp in position \vhen applied to a beehive In testimony WhereofI have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN B. corrAM. i

I :5 hive opening, said structure including rela} 

